I tie my own leaders. I use Art Lee's catskill tapers..His nine footers are the best IMO..Also like his 12' 7x..I've caught some decent size fish on 7x over the years..Also believe knotted leaders cause less drag, and are more elastic...

I tied and used the George Harvey leaders for years. 4-5 years ago now, however, I switched to a new one. It uses 36" of .019 Orvis Hy-flote for the butt section, then tapered sections of stren lo-vis monofilament the rest of the way, finishing up with a 30" section of 5x tippet

Might have to start a new topic but, any one use a leader wallet..Right now, I simply use left over zip-lock leader bags..This works ok, but I kind of like the idea storing them in the same place; wallets make for easier access while on the water...Maybe some of the old school guys could chime in on this..

sundrunk wrote:Might have to start a new topic but, any one use a leader wallet..Right now, I simply use left over zip-lock leader bags..This works ok, but I kind of like the idea storing them in the same place; wallets make for easier access while on the water...Maybe some of the old school guys could chime in on this..

Old school - these things last for decades - there's no zip lock to wear out.

I cut a piece of index card, and write the leader formula on it, and slide it in behind the coiled leader. This allows me to keep track of what the leader is at a glance. I carry three of these wallets in my vest, and the leaders within cover most anything I'd come across. Been doing this , well, since I was in school, and I'm OLD.

you ask 100 people who make their own leaders and they all use something different , some use stiff butts , some use fine supple butts , some fluor some not , me i just use store bought because they work and a friend of mine told me their was no money saving in tying your own but its probably fun for some people kinda like tying flies

troutslammer wrote:you ask 100 people who make their own leaders and they all use something different , some use stiff butts , some use fine supple butts , some fluor some not , me i just use store bought because they work and a friend of mine told me their was no money saving in tying your own but its probably fun for some people kinda like tying flies

I tie my own so I have them when i need them and do not have to make a trip to a flyshop. I also think that they turn over better than extruded leaders. The other bonus is that you know right where you need to start rebuilding your leader.

I used to tie leaders to/from formula. The last 10 years or so though, I've been buying Bass Pro Shop knotless tapered leaders in 7 1/2' 3X and 9' 4X and then adding sections of material up to .013 (2 mils up from 0X) PRN as I use it up.

My leader formula these days is to adjust the damn thing until it casts the way I want it to...

turning over better than store bought is merely opinion , tippet gauges tell u what tippet to tie on or use a surgeons knot when in doubt on diameter , there are times when i make a certain leader up but for the most part i buy em. everybody uses what works for them

i use both and truly dont notice a difference when i tie my own i use 54 inches of 8.8 lb maxima for butt then ill go 20" of 6lb maxima then ill do another 20 inches of 5x frog hair or maxima for a tip leader tying is somehitng i have not really begun to pay that much attention to another feature that extruded leaders have is they dont have knots to collect trash

Posted on: 2009/10/27 20:11

_________________
fly fishing - an addiction in which no one wants an intervention

one advantage to tying your own leader is adaptation to water conditions , example , if you fish alot of fast deep runs , you can tie a say 5x butt tippet , then 2x , then back to 5x , the thinner softer 5x butt acts like a hinge with the heavier 2x below it , pulls the nymph down deeper quicker